Chapter 931 [0926] Winter Is Coming

The Battle of the Delverhold officially came to an end.

Following Lissandra out of the Frostguard Fortress, the Frostguard priests and Frostguard warriors who came to the Delverhold were met with a tragic mass annihilation, with nearly one-third being wiped out on the spot, and the rest being captured.

The terrain that was conducive to defense also meant that it was difficult to escape. In addition, Lissandra herself left in a rather silent manner, and the Frostguard tribes that remained here were not prepared to escape, nor were there any special units to cover the rear, so they were almost completely surrounded.

Under normal circumstances, considering the combat effectiveness of these Frostguard tribes, this dumpling would be burst - if they wanted to keep these people, the coalition should pay a painful price.

But Lissandra's embarrassing escape changed this result. Due to the collapse of the spiritual totem, the Frostguard tribe did not make any major moves afterwards, and became prisoners in a state of despair.

It was also for this reason that the coalition was able to capture more than 20,000 prisoners.

Such a large number of prisoners is also a heavy burden for the coalition, especially in this winter. Letting them all go means letting the tiger go back to the mountain, but if they are left in the Delverhold, it means that the coalition will have 20,000 more mouths. Although they are in low spirits, they are quite good at eating.

Unless they are killed, it will be very uncomfortable to deal with these people.

Fortunately, Noxus has now stood on the side of the coalition. Under the promotion of Kalya, the burden of these Frost Guard prisoners has been temporarily thrown to the Noxians.

It just so happens that the Immortal Fortress was almost destroyed and repairs needed manpower. At this time, throwing these prisoners over to repair the city wall seems to be just right.

For the coalition, this can save themselves from the devastating logistical pressure, and for the Noxians, it is equivalent to a wave of free labor, everything seems to be perfect.

The only small problem is whether the Noxians have the ability to control these prisoners.

It is true that the Frostguard tribe, which has lost its fighting spirit, looks like eggplants hit by frost, but if they hear the news of Lissandra again and rekindle their fighting spirit, I wonder if the Noxians now have the ability to control the situation?

To be honest, Rell herself is not very sure about this, but she has too little choice - her personal guards' previous actions against Darius directly angered the former commander-in-chief.

Although Darius expressed his understanding and support for her afterwards, both sides tacitly acknowledged that it was a "misunderstanding" at this critical moment for Noxus' survival, but after the rift was created, it was almost impossible to bridge it.

Whether it is voluntary or forced, the two generations of Noxus will start a competition for the helm of the empire. Even if they are trying hard to control the situation and prevent the contradiction from becoming acute, but... some things will happen if they don't want to.

Therefore, if a group of prisoners can be introduced for free, at least the walls of the Immortal Bastion can be built in this delicate environment.

Even if the captives of this scale get out of control, it will not cause too much trouble.

……………………

After solving the problem of captives, the Delverhold officially ushered in the cold winter.

Winter is coming.

For the Avarosans in the coalition, wintering in the Ironthorn Mountains in the east of Freljord is undoubtedly a novel experience. Even those nomadic peoples rarely walk thousands of miles in a year.

Although it seems that the winter here is not much different from that in Rakstak, many people still seem to be very excited. They are organized in teams and look for prey that they have seen or not seen in the Ironthorn Mountains, hoping to use it as a souvenir of this expedition.

After one brilliant victory after another, no Avarosan warrior would question Ashe's decision, even if they don't quite understand why Ashe wants to unite the Demacians to fight against the Frostguard tribe, but the War Mother said to fight, so fight and it's over.

This situation where the War Mother makes all decisions is somewhat mysterious in other places, but it is the most common norm in Freljord. Here, the War Mother is the decision maker of everything, and the War Mother's orders are the direction of the tribe.

It is also for this reason that once the War Mother is gone, the tribe will often be gone with her.

In Delverhold, the double-edged sword of the War Mother system is a very useful blade for the Avarosans to kill the enemy.

However, unlike the high-spirited Avarosans, the mood of the Demacia Northern Expedition Army became visibly quiet as the snow closed the mountains.

Counting from the day of departure, these people have been away from Demacia for almost eight months.

In these eight months, their marching distance has exceeded 10,000 miles, and they have fought hundreds of battles of all sizes all the way here.

Although Lux always puts logistics support first, and opens up logistics channels wherever he goes, the Northern Expedition Army has been on a long journey but rarely lacks supplies. However, as the war was paused and the heavy snow completely sealed the Fort Delver, the previously suppressed melancholy could not help but surge out.

This emotion is so obvious that Kalya and Lux ​​don't even need to go deep into every soldier to feel its existence very clearly.

Morale must be boosted.

And if you want to boost morale, you have to prescribe the right medicine.

To be honest, most of the Northern Expedition Army didn't know the significance of this oath-taking Northern Expedition. They were willing to follow Lux eastward and northward, on the one hand because of Lux's amazing prestige in Demacia, and on the other hand to fight for a title for his wife and children.

Trusting Lux and hoping to establish meritorious service were the main ideas of most of the Northern Expedition Army. As for protecting the Runeland, it was too far away for them.

In addition, the existence of the void was a taboo that should not be easily spoken of, so although most of the Northern Expedition Army knew that their goal was to protect this world, they didn't know how to do it.

In response to this situation, Kalya believed that in order to boost morale and gather the army's heart, there were five main ways to start.

First, Lux had to go deep into the soldiers and frequently show his face to make everyone realize that His Majesty the Emperor had always been by their side, following them through thick and thin.

This is very simple for Lux. She is not a person who is very keen on enjoying life. Especially after the trip to Shurima, she does not think that ordinary military life is hard at all. For her, eating and living with the soldiers is not a big deal.

Secondly, the rewards and promotions that should be paid should be realized in time. Now that she has time, Lux can organize a mid-term summary for this Northern Expedition and settle the rewards and punishments according to the current merits.

Although the current conditions are limited and many things can only be fully realized after the army returns, the attitude of clear rewards and punishments must be put forward.

Then, we can gradually let out some words about the existence of the void.

The void is difficult to describe and describe in words. It is difficult to let the soldiers of the Northern Expedition know what kind of enemy they are about to face, but it is not impossible to give them a sense of mission - at this time, Shurima becomes the best example.

The main reason for the collapse of the Shurima Empire is the void.

Even if the soldiers of the Northern Expedition cannot understand what the void is, they should at least know that the cause they are carrying out is just and glorious, and their achievements will be remembered by the world.

Also, in addition to being inspired, the level of material security should be improved as much as possible.

The current Delverhold has a large amount of supplies stored, enough to support the expeditionary army through this winter, but the types of supplies are quite scarce, and have nothing to do with enjoyment.

In this case, the Frost Dragon Legion will go to Noxus once a week to buy high-quality ingredients, fine wine, fine tobacco and tea leaves and other hobbies to support the expeditionary army in various small competitions after daily training - these hobbies will be used as prizes to give the expeditionary army something to do.

In addition, organizations such as reading clubs and choirs can also be set up. Considering that the winter in Freljord lasts at least four months, they must find some normal things that can entertain and soothe their nerves in this long winter.

At this time, Lux's identity as a "great artist" comes into play.

With these activities, the atmosphere of the army will be visibly relaxed, so that they will not be tense all the time, and will not always have wild thoughts.

Finally, in addition to boosting morale and maintaining security from all aspects, the most important point is to tell all the Northern Expedition Army that the rear has not forgotten us, and we will return home gloriously after victory!

Strengthening the connection with Demacia is also a very important task for the current Delverburg.

For this reason, the elemental dragons became messengers and porters under the coercion of Karya, responsible for transporting letters for the soldiers of the Northern Expedition Army and their families.

Before the letters arrived, they first transported the two newspapers, the North Border Daily and the Xiongdu Daily.

Although the elemental dragons were very relaxed carrying these light newspapers, they were heavier than anything else for the soldiers of the Northern Expedition Army.

Because the distance between Delverburg and Demacia is too far, and it takes time to organize the distribution and collection of letters, the elemental dragon train takes two months to go back and forth once, and the transportation capacity allocated to a single soldier each time is also very limited.

Therefore, before the two sides communicated, they could only rely on these newspapers to satisfy their cravings.

But it didn't matter. For the Northern Expedition soldiers who were thousands of miles away from home, those simple words and those tofu-sized news were their connection with their hometown.

The still rough newspapers passed through the hands of different soldiers. They excitedly looked for their own names in the Xiongdu Daily. Those who were ranked in the front danced with joy, while those who were ranked in the back or omitted and turned into "etc." due to page restrictions were full of dissatisfaction with the European emperors with letters in front.

If there was not a special commendation issue that recorded everyone in detail, I am afraid that this dissatisfaction might even lead to a group fight.

Even with this special issue, there are still many people full of nagging.

"Who would read the special issue for serious people..."

Fortunately, with the official start of communication, this emotion was quickly resolved completely - even if the soldiers who did not make any meritorious deeds but were only on the "safe list" in the corner of the special issue received letters from their families, the words were still full of undisguised pride and pride.

With the arrival of these family letters, the Northern Expedition Army in Fort Diver finally stopped being impatient.

Although the expedition was difficult and the homesickness was hard to break.

But the great emperor was with us through thick and thin.

But all we have done through hard work is for this world.

But when we return triumphantly, all the flowers in Demacia will bloom for us.

But even if we die, we will become a member of the Hall of Valor and be worshipped by the later generations together with the ancestors.

So, what else can we hesitate, hesitate, be sad, and be melancholy about?

What we have to do next is to train with all our strength, wait for the wind and snow to stop, continue to go north, attack the Frostguard Fortress, and completely defeat the evil Frost Witch!

In the wind and snow, the soldiers of the Northern Expedition of the Delver Fortress ushered in a different New Year.

On the morning of the New Year, they gathered on the flat square and listened closely to a belated winter speech.

And almost at the same time, in Demacia, in Fosbyro and Xiongdu, Ino and Sona also picked up the same speech and delivered this belated speech on behalf of Her Majesty Laxana.

Although the snowstorm was strong, it could not cover up the cheers. Whether in the Delverhold in the Ironthorn Mountains, in Fosbyro in the north, or in the capital city with a little snow, when Lux, Ino and Sona said "Demacia will surely win", the same cheers disturbed the snowstorm.

This is not only Lux's promise, not only the confidence of the Northern Expedition Army, but also the confidence of Demacia.

Behind this decisive promise and under this long-lasting oath is a brand new attitude of Demacia.

After internal struggles and reforms, development and efforts, the current Demacia has been reborn.

And the reborn Demacia will no longer be limited to self-development. They will use their own ways and means to deeply influence the entire Runeland from various fields including but not limited to the economy.

Just like the former Shurima Empire.

The Icathian War and the resource trap of the Sun Disc prevented the Shurima Empire from getting out of the desert and eventually fell apart.

But now, Demacia, which has inherited and carried forward the spirit of the Shurima Empire, is ready to go further with a new attitude.

Now, they are about to go deep into the Frostguard Fortress.

In the future, perhaps, the boundless starry sky.

Tomorrow, there will be a postscript chapter, and this volume will end.

Then, the next volume will be the last volume of this book.

Woo woo woo woo woo woo.